The Flame in The Flood
by JReadsStuff
Summary: A 12 year old girl named Scout and her dog Aesop travel through the backwaters of a forgotten post-societal America! She will meet other people, discover forgotten places, and maybe even find The Kingdom... (Based off the game The Flame in The Flood. Some fantasy violence and crude humor.)
1. Prologue

Once upon a time, on a cold windy night, where the rivers were splashing and the wolves were gnashing... there lived a girl, going on 13, who had seen a little bit of everything. She once went to school like an everyday kid, but then the evacuation came, and everything was lost...

Except for that girl. Her name is Scout, she was going to camp, but then suddenly everyone was running. She can remember it like it was yesterday...

"Run! RUN! Everyone clear out!" yelled a leader. Many kids were racing down the trails as the floodwaters rushed towards them. They jumped into their little canoes and paddled away with their hands, while the leaders took larger rafts and paddled with sticks...

Scout was sleeping in a hut, unaware of what was going on outside. When she woke up, everyone was gone! And the entrance was to Camp Pinewood became a rushing river.

Ever since, Scout just ate yucca plants and mulberries to stay alive. She gathered old parts of cars and buildings to cobble together a raft. And now, you shall see the story of how she made it across the floodwaters of an abandoned America...


	2. Part One: A Dog?

Scout sat by a campfire. _Today is the day,_ she thought. It was time to go. Camp Pinewood was a good place to stay for a while, but she needed to find a new place to call home. But then... she heard barking. A wolf? No...

It was a dog.

"Huh?" said Scout. She was puzzled. Where did it come from? As Scout raised her staff (a stick with a solar-powered lamp on it) to get more light onto the dog, she noticed it had a rucksack.  
She took the rucksack and examined it. Inside was a radio, emitting faint words. Scout decided finding a stronger radio signal was another good reason to leave. And she did.

Scout slipped the rucksack onto her back, before putting a small red fletcher she found onto the dog. The dog's collar read one word: _Aesop_.

"Alright, 'Aesop'... follow me, I reckon it's time to go..." said Scout, before running to her "raft". The raft's body was just some empty metal barrels tied and chained to the bottom of a plank floor. It had mats and rugs tied to the top of its floor, with a car front near the front of the raft.

Scout put the radio inside the empty space where an engine would go, and pulled a metal line to turn on the car lights. When she salvaged the car piece, the car itself still had a full battery and working headlights.

Before Scout could continue remembering the past, Aesop barked. The sun was going down. Scout snapped out of it before using her staff to row onto the floodwaters which made a river. Her staff wasn't the perfect paddle, but it would be helpful for quickly dodging a rock or some drifting object.

The floodwaters was calm, but Scout knew it would become fierce later on. And on she went...

She shrugged it off, thinking it was her staff lamp or raft lights reflecting, but she thought she saw a _flame in the flood..._


	3. Part Two: Magnolia

Scout continued on, holding her staff firmly. The staff wasn't just the paddle, it was like part of her. She could scare small animals away by waving it, and hold herself up with it if she gets tired or breaks a bone.

After some time of rafting, Scout stopped at a gas station island. You see, the entire land had been flooded, except for land masses which were big enough to stay dry. People who tried to survive on these land masses built crude docks on them before they either perished or rafted away. It was convinient for Scout, because like all humans, she would need to get food and rest... and other bodily needs, of course.

As Scout docked, she noticed a sign which read " **Cure what ails ye, fill yerself up with food** ". _Hmm,_ thought Scout. Was it really as beneficial as the sign claimed? It was just an old gas station, after all. Nothing but stale bags of chips, old canned drinks, broken waterworks, and lots and lots of gasoline. But as she walked up the road, she noticed an old woman sitting by a pot, stirring something.

Before Scout could even say hello, the old woman began to speak. "This ain't a church, honey. If you something to trade, let me take a look. If you don't, I suggest you leave. The gas is the only free thing here."

Scout opened her mouth to reply, but the old woman kept talking. "And don't even think about tryin' to just take some of my supplies and run, because I'm faster then most people would think."

Once again, Scout tried to talk, but the old woman had one more thing to say. "Now, what brings you down to Magnolia?"

"Well, I'll trade for some of yer supplies. I have some stitching kits I made... will these do as payment?" asked Scout.

"Sure. It will be enough to get you some jerky. Wolf jerky." said the woman.

Scout quivered a bit. She had never eaten any kind of jerky that wasn't beef or turkey jerky. But at the times she was in, she would have to take what she could get.

"Uhh... do you have any filtered water or charcoal filters fer trade as well?" asked Scout.

"I'm afraid not. Another traveller came and took 'em all. But ya can trade for this potion I've made. It remedies a fever a little bit, but it's good as a thirst quencher. I call it... Gatorade."

"Ain't that a sport drink?"

"Shut your mouth now. Take the jerky and jar of potion and leave."

Scout didn't hestitate to comply, and was soon on the water again. But she once again thought she saw...

A Flame in The Flood.


	4. Part Three: A Bad Dream

As Scout munched on some Jerky while rafting, she noticed a big building with a crane. What was it? A part of a drill? She decided to find out by docking there. When she got off the raft, there were crates everywhere, and I do mean **everywhere.** On the right side of the platform was nothing but crates filled with raft parts and old scribblin's of boat schematics.

"This will be perfect!" said Scout. She actually had a gleam of happiness. She could add things to her raft, like a rudder, and a tent, and a mini-furnace!

Without even noticing how tired she was from paddling so much, she set to work, hammering down pegs and lugging parts onto the boat. The furnace and tent worked, but the rudder kept breaking off, so she decided to just add something else.

 _Hmm, what can I add?... I know! A water filter!_ thought Scout.

After a long while of work, it started to rain. Scout was now very tired, so she pitched her raft tent and went to sleep...

"zzzz...zzzz...nehh...HUH?"

She sat up and looked around. Where was she? She was still very tired, but as she rubbed her eyes, she found her raft to be stuck in a desert. Had all the water evaporated? No, that couldn't be... there would be more visible ruins... the marina wasn't even there anymore?

As she got out, she noticed Aesop was gone. His little bag was left a few feet away from the raft. She kept walking farther and farther from the raft, until she finally collapsed. Out of no-where came wolves... lots of murderous wolves... Scout tried to get up, but it was no use. She was cornered. The wolves jumped at her and bit.

There was a scream.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Scout screamed, before realizing it was a dream. Her heart raced. She was in her tent, with Aesop still sleeping in her lap. She peered out of the tent. It was still raining.

 _That was a terrible dream... I hope it doesn't happen again._

She went back to sleep, and dreamed about a Flame in The Flood...

 _ **Author Note:**_ _You may or may not see the words "Flame in The Flood" at the end of every chapter._


	5. Part Four: Boat Crash

Drip. Something hits Scout's nose. She stays asleep. Drip. A bigger drop hits her face again. **Drip. Drip. Drip. Splash.**

Scout woke up to find the rain stopped, but the tent collapsed on her and caused all the moisture to drip onto her. It was still very cloudy. She shook herself off, turned on the furnace, and paddled away from the boat marina.

 **2 hours later...**

"No land at all?!" shouted Scout. There had been no land in sight for nearly 30 minutes. Scout had found lots of useful stuff before that, and crafted weapons and traps to defeat predators and get their meat, so she could last a while on her raft, but...

She was starting to space out, but Aesop got her attention. When Scout looked up, there was a huge rock, and the raft was about to hit it! She quickly dodged it by paddling hard, but there were MORE rocks up ahead! She had to zig-zag frequently to avoid them, and occasionally bumped into a small, less noticable rock.

But then...

"What is this?!" said Scout. There was a bunch of small rocks poking out of the water, acting almost like a fence, keeping the raft from going any farther. Scout tried to manuver through the small fence of rocks, but it was no use. As soon as she was past the rocks and onto calmer water, the raft started to break.

First, just a few bits broke off.

Then the raft became 2 "rafts".

And then it became 4 pieces.

Then it became 5.

Then it completely fell apart. Scout tried to swim to the nearby land, but then she heard Aesop. At this point, it was either abandon Aesop and save herself, or try to save Aesop and herself, which would be much harder. Scout decided to go with the latter choice anyways, but as soon as she swam to Aesop...

Everything went black.

When she woke up, she found that she was on a shore... with the remains of her raft and Aesop next to her. She got up and noticed she was at a gate. There was a sign reading " **Angel Yards: Evacuation Route** ".

Then she noticed some markings saying " **There is Flames in the Flood** ". Strange.


	6. Part Five: Angel Yards

After she had enough time to collect herself, bandage herself and Aesop, and eat, she continued through Angel Yards. There were wolves and boars, but none of them scared her. She just shot arrows at them and they ran away.

But then something swiped at her. It didn't hurt her, but it broke her staff. She whirled around to find there was a...b-b-b-BEAR! Scout shot an arrow and it ran off, and she then collected the remains of her staff. She was strong and smart without it, but it had been kind of like her "friend". Other then Aesop, of course, but a 6' branch with a small solar-lamp jammed into it only needed the sun. Aesop needed more.

But a stick is a stick, so Scout just put the pieces in her bag and moved on. And only 20 steps later did she find something extraordinary.

It was a rocket ship. A HUGE rocket ship! Scout thought, _maybe all the people who survived went to outer space. I can join them._ But there was a note attached to the launch pad.

 **I bear... unfortunate tidings, friends. The rockets are dead. No way off this world. Not no more. There's a place for you. The Kingdom. Head south to the sea. That's what you'll find.**

Scout couldn't believe it. Sure, she could search for this "Kingdom" but how would she? Her raft was broken! For the first time in a while, little tears hit the ground.

 _There is no way off this island... what do I do?_

All she could do was head back to shore. But there was a man standing there, looking at...Scout's raft?

"Oh, hey, I took the liberty of patching up your raft. I found the schemeatics for it. Name's Quincy Collie." said Quincy.

Scout didn't know what to say.

"Did you find what you were looking for there?" asked Quincy.

"A note... mentions 'The Kingdom'. Know anything about this?" replied Scout.

"That tall-tale? I don't believe any of it. Helps folks sleep at night, makes them think there is a better life."

"A better life?"

"The tale claims there is lots of food to go around, people treat each other decently, sickness happens less... seems farfetched to me."

"Noted. Still, I'll take my chances."

"Very well. Stay around as long as you want though. I lost my pup a long time ago... she was somethin' fierce."

"I best be on my way now."

And with that, Scout took Aesop and got on board, before pushing off. She saw Quincy wave goodbye, until he became so far away he was nothing but a speck.

Suddenly, there was a boom. It appears some bomb exploded underwater. And then there really was...

A Flame in The Flood. 


	7. Part Six: The Kingdom

**After nearly 2 days of rafting, running, and bow-wielding, Scout was on the sea.**

Scout was just on the sea, constantly rowing, avoiding all the abandoned yachts and fishing boats. Aesop was hiding inside the nearly-full raft storage, as the waters were splashing all over the raft.

Suddenly, a lightning bolt struck nearby, as dark clouds filled the sky. After Earth was mostly evacuated, nature was taking over. Storms brewed more, and animals took over all the old towns and cities.

 **BOOM!** A lightning bolt struck a few feet away from the raft. **BOOM!** Another one struck, this time even closer. **BOOM!** One more strikes, litterally less then a foot away from the raft.

Scout was smart though, and the boat was not damaged by the lightning. The rain started to clear, and eventually, it was sunny again. While she had sunshine, she decided to think.

Was the Kingdom real? It did seem farfetched. But it would be great if it was real. Having good houses to sleep in, with running water, electricity, real beds, friendly neighbors all around, lots of food, and maybe even...

 _Toilet paper. That would be nice. Maple leaves are rough._

As Scout daydreamed, Aesop came out of his hiding spot and barked. Land was coming! Scout paddled hard towards it. The island was huge, and there was a huge white dome on it!

 _Is it... The Kingdom?_

Scout docked at the island's dock. The dock was made of old corrugated metal, with some pegs. There was a small steamboat beside the dock. _The luckiest people these days have real boats_ , thought Scout.

As Scout ran across the trail, she noticed how pretty it was. There was a clean river with a bridge going over it. She ran over the bridge and found herself at the front of a... theme park. It was a theme park entrance. Big letters read " **KINGDOM** ". While Scout pushed through the gate, she saw little puppy dogs run around her. They looked like Aesop, but smaller.

She kept going, awestruck. There were animal coops, corn stalks, and a row of rucksacks. Each rucksack beared the same emblem of the bag Aesop brought her. There was a note by a dog pen, which showed a canine manifest. There was one part of the note that caught her eye.

 **Aesop - Sent north, presumed lost.**

 _I brought 'em back..._

Scout kept running. There was a stack of radios, looking the same as the one she carried. There were pens of boars and rabbits, and she ran past.

The dome's doors opened.

 _ **"Tell us, traveller... what's out there?"**_

 **The End**

 _ **Author Note:**_ _I may have rushed the story a tiny bit, but... I hope you enjoyed anyways. There will be a new story about The Flame in The Flood again. Soon._


End file.
